Chron.commons, Houstonist, Etc.

byRobert Nagleon2/3/2006

Wow! Once again, the Chronicle comes through again.

Under Dwight Silverman’s intrepid direction, the Chronicle has set up a commons area where readers can set up special-interest blogs. This idea has been tried before (see B5 Media, Corante, the recent incarnation of about.com and scores of others), but this is in my opinion the first time a major metropolitan newspaper has embarked on such a grassroots journalism venture. I can anticipate the reasons why such a venture wouldn’t work out; however, all you need is for a few of the bloggers to gain a loyal following, and then there you go, you’re all set.
(See J. Wynia’s post: Setting up a blogging empire ).

This raises the question of whether individual bloggers should join these blogging networks or go out on their own.

Haven’t looked through the individual blogs yet, but Making Movies sounds useful and interesting. Mama Drama definitely has the best blog title.

On another local angle, the Houstonist is another well-produced groupblog edited by Jim Parsons with a focus on news.